At 7/4/12 04:47 PM, Protagonist wrote:
What I don't get is, what do either of these have to do with punks?

Well, Cyberpunk usually has a lot of anti-corporate or anti-totalitarian government sentiment with it. I.E. Shadowrun, which most campaigns deal in fucking with corporations above the law, or Dues Ex. Electro-Indrustrial bands like KMFDM are extremely radical in that ideology, take the WWIII album.

I don't know how Steampunk is though. I do usually expect child chimney sweepers from it.

Cyberpunk tends to work better when it's more realistic, Steampunk works better with outlandish scenarios and going purely for "awesome" factor.
Trying to make cyberpunk "over the top" usually nets you stuff that is just plain silly or just regular science fiction/fantasy, while steampunk can't be realistic because of base idea - the more real you get, the more it starts to look like alternate history.

At 7/4/12 07:55 PM, shinobody wrote:
Cyberpunk tends to work better when it's more realistic, Steampunk works better with outlandish scenarios and going purely for "awesome" factor.
Trying to make cyberpunk "over the top" usually nets you stuff that is just plain silly or just regular science fiction/fantasy, while steampunk can't be realistic because of base idea - the more real you get, the more it starts to look like alternate history.

I disagree. Shadowrun isn't very realistic, but it's so fucking interesting. It's just the speed and the thump of the culture is what makes it cool. I remember being a kid and seeing this one show. I think it was called "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" and it was amazing how they had all these things working for it, even though it was a half-rate kids show.

Not only that, but Technomancer and Ghost In The Shell expand on the stranger parts of tech.

At 7/4/12 07:55 PM, shinobody wrote:
Cyberpunk tends to work better when it's more realistic, Steampunk works better with outlandish scenarios and going purely for "awesome" factor.
Trying to make cyberpunk "over the top" usually nets you stuff that is just plain silly or just regular science fiction/fantasy, while steampunk can't be realistic because of base idea - the more real you get, the more it starts to look like alternate history.

I disagree. Shadowrun isn't very realistic, but it's so fucking interesting. It's just the speed and the thump of the culture is what makes it cool. I remember being a kid and seeing this one show. I think it was called "Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century" and it was amazing how they had all these things working for it, even though it was a half-rate kids show.

Not only that, but Technomancer and Ghost In The Shell expand on the stranger parts of tech.

Try playing Phantom Crash. It adds an absolute STYLE to Cyberpunk, much like Jet Set Radio